Intended for healthcare professionals

Letters Body piercing in England

Health and regulation issues for body piercing

BMJ 2008; 337 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.a595 (Published 08 July 2008) Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a595
  1. Umo I Esen, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist
  1. 1South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust, South Shields NE34 OPL
  1. umo.esen{at}stft.nhs.uk

    Bone et al show that the prevalence of body piercing is increasing.1 The body piercing industry is poorly regulated, practitioners require no formal qualifications, and there are no formal training programmes. The Local Government Act 2003, which came into force in 2004,2 was supposed to remedy the situation, but enforcement is patchy and not much has changed since the act, despite the growth in the industry.

    Body piercing is a public health problem with risks especially to people with underlying health problems.3 It can also lead to unnecessary investigations and inappropriate treatments when patients present with persistent and “unexplained” signs and symptoms.4 Piercing of the lips, nostrils, and tongue can present difficulties during resuscitation, especially in emergency situations, as valuable time is lost trying to remove the piercing and jewellery within them for effective resuscitation, many doctors being unfamiliar with the release mechanisms of these devices.5

    Modern day “genital mutilation” (multiple genital piercing) occurs under the guise of body piercing. Bone et al limited their survey to the age group 16-24 years, but a lot of children and toddlers are undergoing body piercing as there is no minimum age of consent for it. When does the piercing of children become child abuse?

    Notes

    Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a595

    Footnotes

    • Competing interests: None declared.

    References

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